How Old Were You...

When you fired your first firearm? Was it a rifle,shotgun or handgun? and what caliber? For me it was a .22 rifle at boyscout camp in wisconsin I think I was 14 or 15. The best part was out of 150 kids I came in second place with a 47 out of 50 on 5 shots. Remember gun control is hitting what you aim at!

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natedog

August 22, 2005, 01:46 AM

11. 20 gauge shotgun at clay targets at a Boy Scout shoot. www.a-human-right.net was discovered soon afterward, and so was TFL, and eventually THR. Thanks for the enlightenment, Oleg!

Kamicosmos

August 22, 2005, 01:46 AM

Firearm would also be a .22 rifle at boyscout camp...probably my first year there, which would have been at 11.

CajunBass

August 22, 2005, 03:06 AM

I don't even remember, but I got an Ithaca M-66, 20 ga single shot for Christmas when I was about 13 I guess. I don't really remember if I shot a gun before then. Probably had. I know I had a BB gun before that anyway.

Rexrider

August 22, 2005, 03:14 AM

I was 17 when a friend's Dad took us shooting. I spent most of the time shooting a 30-06. There was another rifle there but don't know what it was (both were bolt action).

A .357 and .44 mag were also there. I never did shoot the either of the handguns. As I recall I was afraid to. :o No matter, I had plenty of fun with the bolt actions.

Same year another friend's Grandfather took us to the range. All he brought along was a Ruger .22. That was my first handgun experience.

Needless to say, I was hooked.

ETA: I also had BB guns since I was 14.

Drizzt

August 22, 2005, 04:11 AM

Probably about 6 or 7. It was a 410 shotgun. Moved up to a .22 at about 8 or 9. Got my 20-gauge when I was 10. Been moving up in caliber ever since.

4570Rick

August 22, 2005, 04:27 AM

Tho I had been shooting for two or three years, the first time I hit a target was when I went to the YMCA Ranch Camp outside Tucson in '62 and a NRA Instructor noticed I was left eye dom. He tought me how to shoot .22 rifles left handed and the rest is history.

38Mike

August 22, 2005, 04:38 AM

M-16, USAF basic training, 18 yrs old............. :)

dk-corriveau

August 22, 2005, 04:54 AM

I was probably about 7 or 8, much to my mother's dismay. It was on an old J. Stevens .22 single shot pistol with a detachable steel stock. Man did I put a lot of rounds through that baby as a kid.

RCL

August 22, 2005, 06:25 AM

Maybe 6 or 7. My Dad would take my brother and I to shoot pigeons over at my Grandfather's farm. Either a .22 or a .410 shotgun. :)

Hacker15E

August 22, 2005, 06:31 AM

The first gun I ever shot was near age 9 or 10...a .45 long Colt revolver!! The dang thing was so heavy that I barely even felt the recoil!

Made me into a life-long Colt man, though, heh heh.

bpisler

August 22, 2005, 08:04 AM

My first handgun i shot was a small
caliber black powder when i was 8
or 9 years old.

jondar

August 22, 2005, 08:14 AM

Four years old. .410 Iver Johnson single barrell. My Dad held it and let me pull the trigger. I remember it blowing over the weeds in front of the barrell.

Old NFO

August 22, 2005, 08:23 AM

8 years old, an old Savage single shot .22 (which I still have) :D

1911 guy

August 22, 2005, 08:24 AM

I was probably four or five. It was a little take-down .22, I have no idea who made it.

Battlespace

August 22, 2005, 08:29 AM

How about a 12 ga pump at about 7 or 8! My dad was at a turkey shoot at the local trap club and they had a buddy shoot. He borrowed a gun from a friend, and since I had watched him shoot trap for a couple of years I sort of knew the basics. I would yell "pull" and sort of jerked the trigger. I never got a bird, but he would pick them up for me and we won. I imagine the weight of the gun and the light loads had a lot to do with him letting me shoot that day. 45+ years later I love shooting trap, just do not have an opportunity to do so.

Souris

August 22, 2005, 08:29 AM

6 or seven years of age. It was a Winchester model 62 .22
I still have that rifle and use it for squirrel, rabbits etc.

My first handgun was a few years later and it was a Colt Huntsman. I still have that one also!

HankB

August 22, 2005, 08:31 AM

4 years old for a BB gun . . . I was so little, I had to tuck the stock under my armpit, otherwise I couldn't reach the trigger.

First "real" firearm was at about age 7 . . . a Marlin bolt action .22 rifle.

Rickstir

August 22, 2005, 09:31 AM

I was 12. My daddy took me hunting for the first time. He picked a spot that I could ambuse a rabbit. Fired the 12 Ga. Browning auto and blew the poor thing's head off. It was the start of something big.

armoredman

August 22, 2005, 09:35 AM

9, shooting a High Standard Double Nine 22 revolver with my Dad....I have no idea what happened to that revolver. :(

skidmark

August 22, 2005, 09:38 AM

Age 7. A 4-bore. :eek:

Uncle who lived outside Johanesburg took me out and set me up with a shooting stick and about 10 miles of flatland fore & aft. As I recall the event, I used up most of the distance aft, while the gun took about an hour to fall all the way to the ground.

Then he picked me up, showed me how to "lean into" the gun, and I did it again. Only went about a half-mile backwards that time.

Never did it again, as I seemed to notice everybody was laughing hysterically and I wanted to know what was so funny so I could enjoy it too. (You need to understand, in the early 1950's black gunbearers NEVER laughed at anything the white shooter did. They were rolling on the ground.)

stay safe.

skidmark

jojo

August 22, 2005, 09:42 AM

12 or 13 years old if I remember correctly. A friend of mine had snuck out his dad's German 25 cal auto pistol. We fired a mag full, had a great time, and then he got his rear end lit up (his dad found out). :eek:

jojo

max popenker

August 22, 2005, 10:03 AM

Well since it was back in 1988, i was then 15 years old...

It was a cold spring day, and the darn AKM assault rifle (borrowed from Soviet Army stocks to train youngster lime me) was heavy and we shoot prone from bare rocks... and i did qualified ;)
Three shots at 100 meters range... not much but still much better than your ordinary airguns ;)
Hell, it was 17 years ago and i still can fieldstrip and reassemble the AK with my eyes closed.

8 or so Ruger 10/22, I take that back the 10/22 was second remington 511-x was first (still the gun I take hostage from my dad the most :D )
First gun I bought personally 19yrs M1 Carbine

No4Mk1

August 22, 2005, 10:29 AM

Shot a .410 for the first time at 7. My dad entered me in a turkey shoot for kicks and I ended up winning it. Really annoyed some of the grown men that I was competing against! :D

I've been addicted ever since.

CAS700850

August 22, 2005, 10:43 AM

It was an October day in 1975. I had just turned 7. We were at my grandfather's little cottage near Warsaw, Kentucky. Dad was shooting some .22, and my grandfather was shooting a Marlin Model 39 lever action .22. I was watching, when Doc (my gradfather) asked if I wanted to give it a try. He explained the rules, worked the lever for me, and (after lowering the hammer to half-cock) handed me the rifle. I remember how heavy the rifle felt. He cocked the hammer, and let me do the rest. Got a beer can at about 10 yards with my first shot. I was hooked.

P.S. - That rifle is now in my possession, a gift from my grandfather when I got my Eagle Scout. It is among my most prized possessions.

MikeB

August 22, 2005, 10:46 AM

Young enough I don't remember the first time. I do remember recieving my first gun as a Christmas present at about the age of 8. It was a single shot .22 rifle. By that time I had already shot a 1911 Cold Cup in .45ACP, a 12 Guage Browning Semi-Auto, an M1 Carbine, Arisaka's in both 6.5 and 7.7, numerous .22's and a few other various firearms.

thereisnospoon

August 22, 2005, 10:53 AM

Grew up in the city with a disintersted father...

Shot my first firearm when I was 22 or 23 years old. My grandmother had died and my father was going to sell the guns, I took them instead. The first gun I ever fired was am Ivers Johnson .38S&W breakaction "lemon squezzer". It was my grandfather's on my mother's side. Sights sucked an the cartridge was anemic at best, but I was immediately hooked, even though I couldn't hit anything with it.

My first "Purchase" was a used Dan Wesson .357 Magnum switch barrel. What a gun, like most others I've sold over the years...wish I would have kept it, but alas, poor Yurek and all that... :D

quinlanv

August 22, 2005, 11:19 AM

Started kinda late @ around 12. My pop introduced me to the Remington 870 12guage and Marlin .22
I remember thinking pump shotguns were the coolest thing ever.
My son started out at 6 with a single shot bolt .22

Shaun

August 22, 2005, 11:26 AM

8 -- 30-30 and a 12gauge slug -- I remember the slug mostly because when I fired it the forearm was left in my hand and the slug just happened to hit the center of the target.

psyopspec

August 22, 2005, 11:45 AM

I was 10 or 11, shot a cousin's 10-22. First handgun was an uncle's Colt Commander .45, Series 80. Age 16.

Working Man

August 22, 2005, 12:00 PM

First real gun.... was a little befor my 5th birthday.
Both were .22, a Ruger Single Six and a Sterling semi, in the same day.

BlackJack

August 22, 2005, 12:04 PM

.22 rifle, single-shot break action. 8 years old.

MrTuffPaws

August 22, 2005, 12:27 PM

Oh wow, talk about taking you back.

The first gun I ever fired was an old CO2 pellet revolver. I was around 6 years old. Then after that, a crossman BB gun.

The first actual firearm that I shot would have to be my old single shot 410 around the same age. The gun at the time was bigger than I was.

Polishrifleman

August 22, 2005, 12:42 PM

10, M1 couldn't hold it up but dad helped. You don't have to worry about much kick with a heavyweight. :D

Legionnaire

August 22, 2005, 12:44 PM

Nine or ten. A bolt action .22, no idea what make or model, at a friend's family farm.

Jalexander

August 22, 2005, 12:46 PM

Probably a BB gun at five or six, and a .22 shortly thereafter. When I was about six, I started walking with my mom and great-uncle when they'd go quail hunting, and I'd try to beat the bird dogs to the fallen quail, although I rarely succeeded. My dad gave me a Savage 311 in .410 when I was eight, so I guess that was the first gun that was really mine. Still have it, too.

James

Gus Dddysgrl

August 22, 2005, 12:51 PM

Uhh early teens. My dad took my bro down to my cousins to shoot some stuff while mom talked to my aunt about gardens or quilting I don't remember. All I know is it was more fascinating to watch the guys shoot. Within minutes I was there out shooting some of them. We had a couple of things we shot. None were handguns or shotguns. We tried all sorts of positions too. I put holes in beer cans, old shells and hit some swinging metal plates. That was fun.

Gus

GunnySkox

August 22, 2005, 12:55 PM

14, I was up here in Blacksburg with my dad to visit my brother. One day, my brother had class and his Roommate (K, we'll call him) asked my dad if he could take me to the range. We went, and I got to shoot his P11 (Kel-Tec) an SKS, and some kind of .308 hunting rifle.

"Hi, I'm Slam_Fire.. and I'm a gun-nut." ~Shooters Anonymous!

~Slam_Fire

Jack19

August 22, 2005, 12:55 PM

Six or seven. An Erma .22 "Luger."

Dad bought it just as the Detroit riots started in 67 and taught me shoot.

Agent P

August 22, 2005, 12:59 PM

Started kinda late @ around 12.

Geez, if 12's late, I'm really a late bloomer. First time shooting was this past Mother's Day, at age 26. Shot my dad's .22 Ruger to start, then moved on to 9mm, .45, and .357 magnum. One was a Beretta (the 9mm), the rest were Ruger. The .357 was a revolver, and the rest were autoloaders, if I remember correctly.

slugcatcher

August 22, 2005, 01:39 PM

I was 5. It was my dad's JC Higgins single shot, bolt action 22. It's now mine.

Missed shooting the first year, as the "Tenderfoot", I was always stuck doing the clean-up after meals. Went down to the rifle range area, but the Range Guy had left at noon, not to return. It was the last week that camp was open, so he bolted 2 days early. :cuss:

dtalley

August 22, 2005, 02:24 PM

Age 6, .22 Sears single shot on the family ranch

thorn726

August 22, 2005, 02:24 PM

For me it was a .22 rifle at boyscout camp in wisconsin I think I was 14 or 15

funny, pretty much the same story here= but it was at cubscout camp, i was more like 11 i think.

Stickjockey

August 22, 2005, 02:24 PM

I think I was about six or so. It was my Dad's Marlin .22 levergun, the first rifle he owned. One day that rifle will be mine, and then my son's. Ahh, heirlooms.

No_Brakes23

August 22, 2005, 02:52 PM

My Dad "gave" me a Remington Nylon 77 at the age of 5, and a MkIV/Series 70 at the age of 16.

I didn't fire a gun until I was almost 19, (In '93.) My Dad was a gunsmith, so I guess that is a "Cobbler's children have no shoes" kind of thing.

I fired a S&W Model 28 first, and it scared the crap out of me. I figured if .357 kicked that bad, .45 must be unbearable. I almost didn't try my 1911. I fired the 1911 and was surprised at how much tamer it was. I fell in love.

Didn't shoot again until Marine Corps Rifle Qual in early '97.

Still, my favorite weapon to fire is that old 1911.

DarthBubba

August 22, 2005, 03:00 PM

I was six years old and it was a busy day of shooting 20ga., .22lr, .243win.
My father was an avid shooting enthusiast and wanted us to learn as soon as my brother and myself were old enough to shoot sitting and prone.

AAHH the fond memories of youth,
DarthBubba :D

oweno

August 22, 2005, 03:42 PM

Ummmm - about 12 I suppose ... junior high school anyway - home made .22 pistol that I made myself and back then, a 12 year old could buy .22 ammo at the local Western Auto store (and does anybody here remember the Western Auto stores?).

Later, neighbor complained about me and Joey blazing away at tin cans at the local dingle so a cop showed up and took the gun & ammo away. I suppose today, there'd be arrests all around and it'd be a lead story on the 6 o'clock news.

I was 4 years old when my father let my fire a Ruger Mark II off the back porch. Too bad I let my left thumb drift over behind the action. Ouch.

MAURICE

August 22, 2005, 03:49 PM

I have had BB guns since I was about 9 or 10. But my first time shooting a real firearm was on some kind of 9mm pistol. Do not recall what make or model, though I am fairly certain it was a Glock.
First rifle experience was an SKS.

Black Majik

August 22, 2005, 03:57 PM

I was 10.

Shot a full auto M-16 using blanks in the basement :D

First time I shot live ammunition was 2 years later with the same cousin and uncle. First time I shot a pistol, shotgun and full auto (only time I ever did).

DelayedReaction

August 22, 2005, 04:03 PM

About a year ago, so 21. :D

If it's any consolation, I've made up on lost time and then some.

bigmtnman

August 22, 2005, 04:11 PM

About 9 or 10. My grandfather let me shoot his WesternField .22 single shot bolt action. From then on I was saving my pennies to buy 50 cent boxes of 22 longs. Never got over my love of that SMELL of gunpowder.

xdoctor

August 22, 2005, 04:15 PM

I was about 11. The first one I fired was grampa's old .22 short. He had passed the year before and my Dad inherited it. It has a notch in the barrel where it used to rest on the tractor when Grampa lived on the farm as a kid. I consider it a priceless family heirloom.

Commissar Gribb

August 22, 2005, 04:18 PM

I was 13 I think

at boy scout camp.

.22 bolt actions. I remember that they never hit where you aimed.

Stauble

August 22, 2005, 04:19 PM

i was four or five. (im pretty sure it was four but that does seem a bit young)
it was my uncles .22. i never found out the make and model of it tho

20cows

August 22, 2005, 04:23 PM

My dad started me out on a .22 rifle (Ithica LA single shot), but by the time I was 12 I hunted regularly with my own K-22.

I honestly don't remember when I started shooting (I was probably weaned, but not much older).

308win

August 22, 2005, 04:31 PM

I have a picture of my father, my uncle, and me shooting a BB rifle when I was 3. My first .22 was 4 and my first shotgun (dad's 12ga humpback) was when I was 5. First shotgun I was allowed to hunt with was a 12ga single shot hammer (I was 10) that had the barrel sawed off by my uncle for whatever reason. It didn't weigh much which was good because we used to walk all day and it didn't weigh much which was not so good when I got a shot.

omega5

August 22, 2005, 06:01 PM

12yrs old. Got a Winchester model 37 half hammer 20 guage shotgun for Xmas. Family tradition for the boys. Bought my own .22 at age 15 from a country store. It was a Remington Nylon 66. Hangs above the back door today. Sold the m37 to a friend who had all the guages except the 20.

Ky Larry

August 22, 2005, 07:01 PM

I can't remember when I started shooting. I do remember Christmas when I was 9. I got a Remington 514 singleshot .22 rifle. It's still in my safe.

GRB

August 22, 2005, 07:12 PM

I was 8 or 9 and it was a .22 bolt action rifle, .22LR caliber, at summer camp. The camp was Taconic Lodge in NY, nice place. I won a few NRA marksmanship patches and certificates. Wish I had the jacket they were sewn onto. The rifles were remingtons and Winchesters. If I remember right (and this was pretty long ago) all were magazine fed, although at first we started firing one round at a time. Heck they actually first they started us on BB guns, then came the real grownup's guns - those .22s!

Stoney

August 22, 2005, 08:33 PM

1968,7 years old, Mossberg model 152... my dad and my two brothers in the woods of southern Ohio on a perfect fall day.Good times... :)

Byron Quick

August 22, 2005, 08:40 PM

I was four. The firearm was a Browning Light Twelve. My Dad held up the fore end for me and I held the buttstock to my shoulder and pulled the trigger. Darn thing knocked me head over heels and I wound up with a flinch that took years to overcome. Dad's hypothesis was that if I got the pure living hell knocked out of me then I wouldn't mess around with guns while unsupervised. He was right in that...as far as it went. The disadvantages were excessive, though.

racquette

August 22, 2005, 08:44 PM

Hello

This is my first post.Looks like a great forum you have here.

I was born in 1961,shot my first tin can at the age of 7 in a gravel pit.My Dad started us out early,once He was confident we were safe He let us go on our own(9 or 10). My first rifle was a Stevens falling block(crackshot?) 22,shotgun was a 20 g. Ithaca featherweight. Fond Memories.

Dale

jefnvk

August 22, 2005, 08:48 PM

Too young to remember. One of my earliest memories was shutting my finger in the pump closure of that old Daisy pump BB gun (I got a picture somewhere, the gun was nearly as big as me). Had to set its butt on the ground, push the front grip down, and yank it back up to pump it, because I wasn't strong enough to do it on my shoulder. Well, after the grip went down, the finger got in the assembly, and when it went back up, I had some bloddy fingers.

Mom thought for sure I shot my eye out :D

Eightball

August 22, 2005, 09:31 PM

I actually shot my first firearm about 2 years ago, so I'm kinda young to the game :o . I've always been a firearms enthusiast, though, even waaaay before I shot. I shot skeet with a 12 at a buddy's place, shortly before trying out my (then new) Spanish Mauser. The looks on everyone's face after seeing an 88 year old rifle blow the heck outta the backdrop was awesome :D .

dtippie1

August 22, 2005, 09:51 PM

It was at Boy Scout Camp. Single shot 22. I was hooked for life! That was 40 years ago and I can still remember the day like it was yesterday.

johnmcl

August 23, 2005, 11:47 AM

My first shot was at age 7 in western NY with my dad's Remington 521T. I still have that delightful 22 and am teaching my son how to shoot on it.

Now the most famous event happened when I was 10. I had been badgering my dad for months to let me shoot his Colt 45ACP. Finally he relented. He put one round in the mag, and racked the slide, put the safety on and handed it to me.

I took the safety off and followed his instructions carefully. When I fired though, the gun recoiled up and back, clocking me center-forehead at the hairline. I carry that scar today! My mom came rushing out of the house at the sound of the pistol and saw her son prostrate bleeding from the forehead....

John

Working Man

August 23, 2005, 06:54 PM

MrTuffPaws, was that the Dasiy one that looked like a .357 red hawk
but loaded like a black hawk?

Ryder

August 23, 2005, 07:15 PM

I was twelve and that shot won a huge turkey that my family ate for Thanksgiving. Can't help but wonder what all those grown men I was competing against felt like :D

Five years of using a BB gun on a daily basis taught me real good.

HRT

August 23, 2005, 08:40 PM

I was 7 or 8 we were shooting snapping turtles floating down the strea fro the Lobutcha (sp?) bridge in Leake County, MS. We were sheeting the Remington version of the .22 Auto with the bottom eject. Same rifle as the Browning .22 auto. I came back to Uncle James' house with a pocket full of empty brass and a burn on the inside of my left wrist and a smile that wouldn't quit. That was near 40 years ago.

larryf1952

August 23, 2005, 08:43 PM

Ahhh, yes...I was just an ovum then, albeit a large and very mature ovum for my age... :neener:

DontBurnMyFlag

August 23, 2005, 08:55 PM

I was 18!!! Thats how sad NJ is. I've always enjoyed guns, and I had to wait until I was legal to go out and shoot one at the range. The first gun I have ever fired was a HK Mk 23 in .45 ACP. A wonderful gun to start out on huh? I shot at a FBI qualifying target that was 15 yards away and scored in the 8, 9, and 10 rings. All the paintball, laser-tag and arcade games paid off...but dont tell the government that I turned into a "bloodthirsty killing machine" by my recreational hobbies. :rolleyes:
Since my first trip I have taught numerous people to shoot including 3 family members. While Im not a marksman, I am good at teaching people basic safety and operation of firearms. Im still teaching my friends, but more importantly I am still learning alot. :cool:

Malamute

August 23, 2005, 08:59 PM

About 7 or 8. I wasn't allowed to shoot alone for a couple years, then only single shot. Bought my first 22 pistol at 12, and first 357 at 13, first 44 mag SBH and Winchester 94 30-30, and started reloading at 14. First 45-70 Marlin at 15. Shot a lot of other things in that time too.

Ala Dan

August 23, 2005, 08:59 PM

Gosh, I think I was 'bout 7? That is about the time I discovered girls,
and The University Of Tenessee football program (ha-ha-ha) :uhoh: . The
gun was a .22LR Smith N' Wesson revolver of some sort. :D

pax

August 23, 2005, 08:59 PM

I don't know.

Older than 4 (we were overseas before that) and younger than 8 (I have vivid memories of traipsing around, unsupervised, carrying my little .22 rifle, while my brother carried his 20-gauge shotgun when we were camping that year).

pax

Hardtarget

August 23, 2005, 11:43 PM

I don't remember specifically but I must have been around 6 years old. I'm sure it was a Savage .22/410 of my Dad"s...now sitting in my safe... :D . I do remember that I could not cock it...too stiff for my thumb.
Mark.

alpineman

August 24, 2005, 10:26 AM

I think I was 15. I snuck my dad's .22 rifle out of the house to go shooting with a friend. He had his own .22, and I was blind with jealousy! To this day I can't get my dad to go shooting with me. I'm still working on him, though...

Sam Adams

August 24, 2005, 12:24 PM

28, I'm nearly ashamed to admit. The first gun that I fired (other than a BB gun) was my 9mm S&W 5906. I grew up in the PRNJ, and even though the folks had guns in the closet, they never went shooting. I had to wait until I got out of school (at age 26) and earned some money before I could buy something. Oh, and now I've got somewhat north of 10 guns, so I've made up for lost time. My kids (now aged 4 and 1) will not have to wait so long.

davek

August 24, 2005, 12:34 PM

Sevenish. It was my Mom's old Marlin Mountie under my Grandad's tutelage.

swampsniper

August 24, 2005, 12:40 PM

I bought a Remington mdl 510 with the earnings from a paper route and cutting grass. $24.95 was big money for a 12 year old back then.

torpid

August 24, 2005, 01:07 PM

I was 10, and it was a Luger (which I liked because I had a nifty scale replica Luger capgun at home ), and it was outdoors with an adult family friend (my family wasn't a gun family).

I was amazed at how much quieter gunshots were than what I expected.

Until I shot... without ear protection.

Enjoyed it though. :)

Oh, and many coffee cans were bagged that day.

JohnBT

August 24, 2005, 01:45 PM

I still can't remember. Probably 5, maybe 4 or 6. I've asked my father and uncle if they remember, but they're older than I am and I'm 54. I know I was shooting by that tender age because my grandparents gave me a BB gun with wall rack and metal cleaning kit when I was 5.

The first gun I shot was one of my uncle's many Marremchester bolt actions, probably the Marlin 81 IIRC. The first one I vividly remember shooting around that time was my dad's Model 12 20 ga. After lengthy bugging and whining, he held the gun and I pulled the trigger on the high brass #6 (that's all they shot back then.) He caught the gun, I sat down hard in the dirt road.

John

P.S. - "That is about the time I discovered girls" Was they hiding from ya? :)

gulogulo1970

August 24, 2005, 02:16 PM

18, shot a my Mossberg 500 that I bought the day I turned 18.

RoyG

August 24, 2005, 02:30 PM

Around 8 or so. First was my Dads' Mossberg bolt action .410. I had a BB gun for around a year before that though.

For my 10th birthday I was given a very used .20ga single shot shotgun. It is a clone of a Winchester Model 37. It has no manufacture markings on it at all. My dad paid 10 bucks for it. I still have it.

ZeroX

August 24, 2005, 02:43 PM

:o Um...N/A.

I'm 18, BTW.

MacPelto

August 24, 2005, 02:53 PM

8. My grandfather taught me to shoot with a Remington 600 in .222 - I remember it like it was yesterday.

We went out to an uncle's ranch in the valley, outside of Alice, Tx. He taught me to sit cross-legged, rest my elbows on my knees, and hold my breath while I squeezed. We shot at a cactus pad. First, he demonstrated, then he let me shoot. I actually hit it. He traded the rifle off awhile later, against a pickup - someday I will buy one just like it, maybe I'll teach someone with it, too.

Was eight yrs of age & my dad provided me with a single shot .22 cal rifle with chopped down rear stock. That was '38 only on comes WWII in '39 & no ammo nor any shooting by civilians.

By 1942 I talked my way into the Army Cadets at the school (a year in advance) & was one of the few that could use a sleeved down Lee Enfield to 22 rim fire & later on our Prinicipal/Captain got wind of some BSA Martini-action rifles & hauled in six of them for the better shooters & I happened to be one.

Almost everyday after school hrs we were shooting in the school auditorium with the six metal & sand target boxes at the end of the auditorium. Not one cadet shot a wild one, that went out of the box, which is rather amazing.

Never thought of a BB gun being a rifle & know I had one at 6 yrs of age & had to hold butt to the ground with rest up into the air, foot against it & then pulled the lever to get it into a point of shooting.

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